Standings after Martinsville

Jaguar Racing will no longer participate in the British Formula Three
Championship from next season. The team has decided to concentrate
all its efforts into Formula One and a new consortium will take over
the running of the team. The consortium...

Jaguar Racing will no longer participate in the British Formula Three
Championship from next season. The team has decided to concentrate
all its efforts into Formula One and a new consortium will take over
the running of the team. The consortium comprises of John Uprichard
(Van Diemen), Roly Vincini (P1 Motorsport) and John Sweeney (Sweeney
Racing/Sweeney Holdings).

“The Formula Three team has achieved an unsurpassed record of success
in the last thirteen years, not just in terms of race victories and
Championships, but in developing young drivers,” commented Niki Lauda,
CEO and Team Principal of Jaguar Racing. “However, since taking over
the reign at Jaguar Racing, one thing has become very clear to me – we
must focus one hundred per cent of our efforts into Formula One if we
are to reach our long term target of winning races. While we respect the
critical role that Formula Three has played, we must also respect the
magnitude of the challenge that lies ahead for Jaguar Racing in Formula
One. To stand any chance of fulfilling these goals, every division of
our business must be dedicated solely to Formula One. This has been far
from an easy decision, but it’s been taken in the best interests of our
F1 programme.”

Niki Lauda commented further: “Formula Three has played a key role in
the development of young drivers and a crucial part of this deal with
the consortium was to ensure that the young driver development programme
remained in place. We have not, at this stage, decided on the future of
James Courtney or Andre Lotterer. Discussions with both men are on-going
and again, we want to ensure an outcome with their best interests in
mind. James and Andre have done a great job this season with a total
of fifteen podium finishes between them. James rounded off the season
by finishing fourth in Driver’s Championship and Andre claimed seventh
place. Between them, they took Jaguar Racing F3 to second place in the
final Championship standings.”

The Jaguar name in Formula Three was relatively new with only one
season behind it but the team was not. The Jaguar Racing Formula Three
Team found its origins in the most successful team in the history of
the Championship: Stewart Racing. The team was set-up in 1988 by Sir
Jackie Stewart and his son Paul who had just embarked on a motorsport
career. Over a three-year period, as Paul progressed from Formula Ford
to Formula Three and F3000, the team expanded and created a motorsport
staircase that led many drivers to their ultimate goal: Formula One. In
2001, five former Stewart drivers were active in Formula One including
David Coulthard, Juan Pablo Montoya and Luciano Burti.

Since its conception, the team has accumulated silverware on a regular
basis, including: thirteen championship titles; victory in the
blue-ribband events in Macau and Zandvoort and, at the close of the 2001
season, the team had won a total of 141 races and accumulated 340 podium
finishes.